LONDON (Reuters) – A Chinese student was found guilty by a London court on Wednesday of drugging and raping 10 women in Britain and China, with British detectives saying they suspected that as many as 50 other women might have been attacked by him.
Zhenhao Zou, 28, who lived in south London, used online platforms and dating apps to meet women who he invited to his home under the pretext of having drinks or studying before he drugged them, London’s Metropolitan police (MPS) said.
He then filmed himself raping and sexually assaulting the women while they were unconscious, keeping some of their jewellery and clothing afterwards.
He was found guilty of 28 offences at the Inner London Crown Court including 11 counts of rape, although the authorities said they had been able to identify only two of his 10 victims.
“Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women,” said Saira Pike from Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service. “We have always been determined to seek justice for both the unidentified and identified victims in this case.”
Zou is due to be sentenced on June 19.
Originally from Dongguan in Guangdong Province, the student is thought to have moved to the United Kingdom in 2017 and began studying for a PhD at University College London in 2019.
After a woman came forward to report Zou, police said they found drugs and hidden cameras in his home, while hundreds of videos and millions of messages on his laptops and phones showed that he had committed offences not just in Britain but in his homeland.
British police, who worked with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, said because of how he operated, some women might be unaware they had been attacked. They said they were particularly keen to hear from anyone from the Chinese student community in Britain who might have met Zou.
“Detectives believe there may be more than 50 other women who may have been a victim and have not yet been identified by police,” an MPS statement said.
(This story has been refiled to fix the wording in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Frances Kerry)
